Well the reality is that most fans of lower league teams will say and do anything to avoid getting their head kicked. Simply asking if one went to Old Trafford on Saturday as they seem to recall every second of the action could ultimately result in a series of running dead legs. So you take the easy route and suggest that " Arsenal/Man Utd/Liverpool/Everton (delete as applicable) have excellent chances of winning the league this year." Even worse you adopt a first divsion team as a second team. Bigamy is apparently allowed in football. It's one thing to conform when you attend a school in North London that is 99 per cent either Arsenal or Spurs but when you live in the middle of nowhere and it takes a plane journey to get to Birmingham, surpressing your love for the local team is just wrong. But even though my own experience is one of denying my right to party, thankfully there are Emmeline Pankhurst's out there who will fly the flag simply because however miniscule it may seem to others it represents their life. They can tolerate the final demand letters, the broken boiler, the patronising tone of their boss because come Saturday they will be endulging in the one activity that sets them apart from everyone else. Now all this devotion is well documented, there are hundreds of books and articles written by people far more intelligent and better writers than myself but the monopoly which they exert is being eroded and it's being eroded by a group called " Social Commentators". It sounds vaguely like something to do with not having your bins emptied but the truth is far more frightening . These people are essentially paid to pass comment on the very things me and you take for granted. The difference between them and a rock or sports journalist is that instead of analysing what is in front of them in the context of the arena it is being played out, they make suggestions as to how it fits into the fabric of Society. In a nutshell, think all those twats on Channel 4 list programmes who talk about " how Britpop was a state of mind " and how England's exit from Euro 96 " was an allegory for the end of tory rule and the labour domination that was to follow, and you have some idea. In short, bullshit. Now of course this is all subjective and I am not here to lecture people on what to think ( well maybe a little), but it's the audacity of it all that concerns me. The fact that we now have a self appointed officer through whom we must channel all our opinions. It's farcical that there is a recognised position for something we do everyday. You don't see a professional "queuer" or somone being paid for breathing and yet we now have a representative who is going to represent the mundane, the ironic, the feckless, on our behalf.
If society wanted everyone's opinions to be broadcast they's install mic stands in pubs and bus stops. To the social commentator, nothing is disposable, everything has value. And yet by elevating everything beyond it's station they are sucking what little value or worth it had in the first place. Social commentary is the equivalent of a comedian explaining every punchline or every artist deconstructing their masterpiece.
With the social commentary, nothing is sacred. Everything is turned over until some value can be found. All those years of developing a view point on something you genuinely love can be all but destroyed on the basis of one phone call. And it won't be long before Emmeline Pankhurst gets that call ; " Hi, understand you support a team that's lower down or something ? Great, love to come down and chat to you and then use our own opinions and put them into a context that has absolutely no relevance. Be great yeah? Sorry, i wasn't sure if you spoke english what with you not living in London." Then again I don't think Emmeline has anything to worry about.